Quarterback to Back: OSU’s Zane Flores and UCF’s Tayven Jackson Come in With Plenty to Prove

Oklahoma State is on the road for the final time in 2025. The Cowboys are hoping that continued consistency at the quarterback position might lead to some eventual success on the scoreboard, but they’ll face some challenges on that front.

Zane Flores is heading into his third consecutive start since returning from injury. He’s been solid to good in descending order in the last two. Across the field, the Knights have been dealing with their own quarterback injuries, but it’s mostly been former Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson at the helm. Jackson and the Knights’ passing game has been about as consistent as OSU’s this season.

Before we dig into the matchup, here’s a look at the two passers as the stack up statistically.

The Knights have been rotating between Jackson and freshman Davi Belfort but the latter only came in for running plays in last week’s loss to Texas Tech and has attempted only four passes in four games all season.

Also, their QB room was cut in half when senior Cam Fancher and junior Jacurri Brown were essentially ruled out for the remainder of the season due to injury. Jackson has been limited himself with a hamstring issue.

“Number one, Davi deserves a chance to play,” UCF head coach Scott Frost said. “Number two, we’re down to two quarterbacks, and we’re trying to finish the season with a quarterback ready to play. You know, that’s going to limit what we can call a little bit, trying to run Tayven.”

The Cowboys, of course, are used to dinged-up QBs. Hauss Hejny still hasn’t returned after breaking his foot early in Week 1, and Flores missed a month with his own injury.

The Cowboys and Knights are the only two Big 12 teams that have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season, so expect at least the potential for ugly. And UCF boasts the No. 2 passing defense in the league. So for the Cowboys to come out on top, Flores will need to keep the Pokes from getting too one-dimensional, limit his own turnovers and maybe hit the odd play down the field.

To that point, Flores is coming off a four-turnover game in the loss to Kansas State — a game the Cowboys lost by eight, and Jackson has thrown at least one pick in his last four outings. It might really come down to which QB can avoid turnovers and facilitate their run game.